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Friday, 3 November 2017

Staying sane in the run up to Christmas

Half term is over - the countdown has begun. Anthony announced this week - it's seven weeks till Christmas. And like every year, I'm not ready. But I've got some ideas to help me.
There's always lots to do and honestly every year it just happens - which is great but a bit daunting. As with many families who have autistic kids there's a lot of planning and preparation that goes into Christmas. It's all too easy for our boys to become overwhelmed with everything that's going on. I try to be fairly relaxed about it and go with whatever they need but it's always going to be a busy time.

There's all the present buying, the wrapping, secret stashing, the shopping and cooking for Christmas dinner whilst making sure we have something David will eat too. And the list goes on. This year I've a few tricks up my sleeve and I'm sharing one with you in a giveaway.

1. Video from Santa
What's that got to do with making my life easier? Ahh, well, the good people at PNP, that's the Portable North Pole, send my kids their own video from Father Christmas which includes a task for them. That's right, Santa himself tells my kids to be good and help their siblings and even help me during the run-up till Christmas.

What better way to make my life easier than focusing my kids on being good. David's still pre verbal and won't really understand a video call from Santa, but the other two definitely do. Two out of three kids helping or trying to be extra good ain't bad and if they aren't annoying David too then this can make the world of difference to me.

2. Slipper shoes
Over the next six weeks and particularly in the last run up to the big day, I'll be in and out of the house like next doors cat with delivery boxes and shopping. I'll fill goodness knows how many bin bags preparing dinner and snacks and put what must be tonnes of packing into recycling boxes.

Half of this will need to be done after the kids have gone to bed. I'll be in and out of the loft looking for decorations various and that tree ornament that 'we always have.' Then there's the trudging back into the loft or garage to hide various gifts.

The key to the above - a fantastic pair of bootie slipper shoes like these from Hunkemoller. A sole along the bottom means you nip outside to the bin as often as you need and not get them wet underneath. They keep you warm and safe in the loft and cosy when finally sitting down to wrap those gifts.

3. Keep everyone comfortable
If our boys are to have a good day we try and help them stay relaxed. Part of them being comfortable is preparing them for the day. Letting them know what's going to happen by talking about what's going on in the run-up to Christmas. Sometimes in the past we've used visuals, particularly with David as he's non-verbal. But the boys have great memories and they've now got a general understanding of what's happening.

We keep Christmas limited to just a few rooms in the house. The lounge has the tree, a cue for them that Christmas is coming, and the kitchen is where we have our Christmas dinner. Comfortable dining chairs keep everyone happy and cope with both the fidgeting boys and our more elder relatives too.

The dining table is extended, giving us all the space we need, even if we have having turkey and David is having chicken nuggets. Most of the house is undecorated so that the boys always have somewhere 'normal' to go and chill out. David quite likes to sit on the stairs to get away from it all when he needs to. If they are all less stressed, then so am I.

4. My ultimate tip - Alexa
We've got an Echo Dot in the kitchen. When we first got it I didn't think I'd use it much. I was wrong. The Echo Dot is voice-controlled disc that uses Amazon's Alexa to play music, control smart home devices, provide information, read the news, set alarms etc. Here's a couple of festive phrases I've been practising.

Alexa set first timer for 3 1/2 hours (for the turkey on Christmas day), then I'll set several other timers for everything else in line. I honestly don't know how anything got cooked for the right length of time before I had Alexa.

Alexa order... well who knows.. because I'll need to order a last minute gift from Amazon without a doubt

Alexa, play Michael Buble (for me to do a dance). Alexa, play Can't Stop the Feeling from Trolls (for me and the kids to dance together).

Alexa, how cold is it today (run and change the heating for the day and then because Anthony wants to know..) Alexa, how cold is it in Russia?

Alexa, where is Father Christmas?

And that's just a starter. I've also found if the kids have lots of questions and I'm swamped, they can talk directly to Alexa for a while. I know, terrible mother. But please don't let that put you off. Alexa is brilliant for my autistic kids.

Anthony in particular loves lists and Alexa is a great help when it comes to interesting facts and figures for him as all I end up doing is googling the answers anyway. She is a databank of information and will answer him over and over again no matter how often he asks. And keeping Anthony calm helps keep me calm. I love having Alexa around to help so much, I'm giving one away.

WIN YOUR OWN ALEXA ECHO DOT FOR CHRISTMAS

If you'd like to win your own Alexa on an Echo Dot - please take part in my giveaway.

It's not sponsored, I just love having an Alexa so much I'm willing to share

Conditions: UK Residents only. Entrants must be aged over 18. Entry is via Rafflecopter. Entries can be made up until midnight on the1st December 2017. One winner will be chosen from all the entries at random the day after closing. The winner will be contacted within two days of the closing date and have one week to respond. The Prize is one Echo Dot as pictured in top photo. No cash alternative.

I was sent a pair of Hunkemoller slippers for purposes of review.

As always my views and comments and independent and I only include products or services I like.

This is an amazing giveaway! Christmas is always more idealistic than in reality and thats from before and after kids hahah! I'm such a sucker for gifts but once its over I get a massive crash and then I'm sad for ages!!Thank you for sharing this amazing giveaway with us at #TriumphantTales. Good luck to all the entrants and I hope to see you back next week!

My son is probably a little too young to understand the concept of Christmas and I think going to see Santa would scare him to death, so the idea of a video from Father Christmas is a much better idea! Genius!

Some of the general stress is just about getting everything done. If you do want the whole traditional Christmas thing - in terms of organising food, house, presents, cooking etc. The main thing is being organised. So write a few lists - they make things easier. Also do what you can in advance. Sort the presents side in early December. Same with any decorations and the tree. Don't worry unduly about having the place spotless - it'll all be trashed the minute a few presents are unwrapped anyway. Get the food in two days before Christmas and do as much chopping, stuffing, and cooking as you can on Christmas Eve. That way even if you are running the show on the big day there is still a chance you'll actually get to relax and enjoy bits of it too and it won't be all work.

It sounds like I need an Echo Dot to keep me organized! And if it can read off recipes so I don't get food or smudges on my recipes all the better. I like to plan ahead as much as possible, but hey life happens!

Thank you for a great giveaway, I have a daughter with mental health issues, and for us, not expecting anything, no preconceptions, and just taking each day as it comes is the best tip I can give. Enjoy the smallest of things xxx

enjoy it - it shouldnt be a task to get through christmas! if it has to be something to have to get through, something is wrong -so what if you burn the turkey or even forget to get it out of the freezer, have a sandwich!!! if relatives dont behave tell them to go home and have a big glass of wine and play with the kids its one day, have fun !

Try to stick to routine and discuss changes to the 'normal schedule' earlier on in the year in preparation. There is a lot of pressure these days to do so much at Christmas but I find it's nice to just do a few things and try not to have the Fear of Missing Out!

I'm not the best person for giving tips - I've learnt the hard way. Start shopping early even if it's just a couple and NEVER leave your wrapping till Christmas eve, did that year before last. Took me hours, youngest woke up crying at midnight before I'd finished and was awake till 1am,finished wrapping at 2.30am,went up to bed and my oldest woke up and was looking in his sticking! It was a nightmare and Christmas day was just a blur because I was sooo tired.

Start early and don't stress too much, my son has asd and has been agitated for a few weeks , he wanted to put up the tree so we put some decoration up this weekend, he is much calmer. If the shops didn't have everything out so early he wouldn't be so aware of it ..sigh

My tip is to make sure you just enjoy Christmas and not stress about it being perfect. Our Christmas tends to last until nearly New Year especially now we have my Grandson here. It takes the stress off of trying to get everything organised for the 1 day, so we open a couple of presents every day, but of course all the stocking presents are opened on Christmas Day. ��

get prepared well in advance so you arent rushing last minute - i generally get all ym prsents bought and wrapped by the end of October (except the chocolates) and I add extra items to the fd shop from Oct onwards as well so by beginning of dec all I need t buy is the fresh stuff

Hide...just kidding however I would say to shop around. It can be easy to get carried away trying to grab everything in one store however by shopping around you could save a lot of money saving you stress after the big day has been and gone. There are so many comparison sites you can use and always look for online vouchers. I do the majority of the shopping online. One more thing, teach little ones what christmas is all about. If you don't have the money to afford everything on their list the time they spend with you is what they will cherish and remember. I learned the hard way spoiling mine rotten getting all the latest toys to have the majority either destroyed by New Year or gathering dust at the bottom of the toy box. We spend the day with family and the girls gifts back home are forgotten until they return. If you can keep a few things back so that everything isn't opened and mixed up. Chances are they won't even notice and every toy will get played with rather than broken in a crazed rush to play with everything they open.

get everyone to help even doing the simplest of things. rubbish in the bin, lay the table. And if it's all too much, don't plan to do a huge dinner in the first place. Remember it's your Christmas too.

dont make it a chore, use a notepad to note don who you need to buy for, lists to do such as writing cards, what food you want to buy and take a friend christmas shopping with you to make it fun, and spread it out dont try to do it all at once

What is Autism?It's so much I couldn't possibly try and explain. For us it's wonderful and heart-breaking. Joyous and truthful. But as far as diagnosis is concerned, why not have a look at the National Autistic Society for their definition of Autism.

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